09/16/20 09/16/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: f from new w york, ththis s democracy now! >> w we must not lose focus on what the real job is. and with that being said, , it s time to move forward with the criminal charges because she deserves that and much more. please, continue to say her name. breonna taylor. amy: the city of louisville, kentucky, has agreed to pay the family of breonna taylor $12

million more than six months after police shot and killed the 26-year-old black emergency room technician in her own apartment. it is one of the largest settlements ever reached for a black woman killed by police. we will speak to mychal denzel smith, author of the new book "stakes is high: life after the american dream." then israel signs a u.s.-brokered deal to normalize relations with the united arab emirates and bahrain. >> this date is a pivot of history. peace.lds a new dawn of amy: president trump's supporters sayay he deserves to win the nobel peace prize. we will speak to palestinian-american attorney noura erakat, who says these are sham deals that will boost oppression in the middle east. all that and more, coming up.

welcome toto democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine rereport. i'm amy goodman. the city o of louisville, kentucky, announced d tuesday it will pay the family y of breonoa taylor $12 millionndnd institute a slew of reforms to the police department responsible for her death, this more than six months after police shot and killed the 26-year-old black emergency room technician in her own apartment. louisville mayor greg fischer announced the historic settlement at a news conference with breonna taylor's family. attorney benjamin crump p welcod the agreement but demanded the criminal prosecution of the officers who entered taylor's apartment with a no-knock warrant and killed her on march 13. >> we still are dememanding that kentucky attorney general daniel camemeron bring charges immediately against the police officers that murdered breonna taylor.

immediately. this week. justice delayed is justicece denied. amy: as part of the settlement, louisville named a dozen changes to how its police departmentnt will operate, including more oversight from top commanders and an early warning system to identify police officers accused of excessive force. we'll have more on the police killing of breonna t taylor aftr heheadlines. the e united states reported o r 1400 c coronavirus deaths s on tuesday, the highestst daily tol in over a month. the u.s. death toll is nearing 196,000. during a town hall event hosted by abc on tuesday, president trump repeated his claim that the coronavirus will go away. pres. trump: we will be ok. it is going way. it will probably go away a lot faster with the vaccine. >> it will go away without the

vaccine? preses. trump: sure, with timem. you will develelop a herd mentality. it is going to be herd de veloped. pres. trump: president trump appeared to be referencing herd immunity. -- amy: president trump appepead to be referencing heherd immuni. epidemiologists don't know how many millions more people would need to be infected for the united states to reach herd immunity -- or even if herd immunity is possible for the novel coronavirus.s. by one count, adopting a herd immunity approach could lead to the deaths of over 2 million people in the country. meanwhile, "the new york times"" reports therere have been over 88,000 cases of the coronavirus on nearly 1200 college campuses around the united states. on tuesd, louisiana state university head coach ed orgeron said he was confident his team -- the defending college football national champions -- would have another successful season because so many players have already contracted covid-19.

all ofink most -- not the p players, but most of the players have caught it. hopefully, once you catch it, don't get it again. i'm not a doctctor. most of the players that have caught it we feel there will be eligible for gamames. amy: l lsu has confirmed over 70 covid-d-19 cases in the month since students returned to campmpus. the department of labor's occupationalal safety and health administration is facing criticism for fining a jbs beef plant in greeley, colorado, under $16,000 after six workers -- all immigrants -- died at the plant from covid-19. nearly 300 workers became infecteded. one family of a dead worker described the small fine as a "huge slap in the face." last year, jbs reported over $50 billion in revenue.

meanwhile, propublica has obtatained emails showing the of -- the text of president trump's controversial executive order keeping meatpacking plants open during the pandemic was based largely on language written by the meat indndustry. the number of confirmed coronanavirus caseses in india s surpassesed 5 million,n, the second-highest in the world after the united states. india reported over 90,000 new cases and nearly 1300 deaths over the past 24 hours, bringing the nation's overall toll to over 82,000. despite the surge in cases and deaths, india is continuing to lift restrictions across the country. on monday,y, india's parliament opened for the first time in six months but 25 lawmakers couldn't take part in person after testing positive for covid-19. in the gulf of mexico, hurricane sally strengthened to a category 2 storm thisis morning as itit slowly came e ashore near gulf shores, alabama, with sustained

winds of 105 miles per hour. forecasters are warnrning of extreme life-threatening flash flflooding, with up p to 30 incs of rain possible along parts of the gulf coast from southeastern mississippi to the florida panhandle. sally is part of a record-shattering hurricane season, with the forecasters currently tracking seven tropical disturbances across the atlalantic.. in the western united ststates, aiair quality alertsts remain in effectct for huge swaths of californrnia, oregegon, and washington as s thick smsmoke fm recordrd-shatterering wildfirers contntinues to bring s some of e world's worst air pollution to tetens of millioions of peoplel. forecasters are hoping cooler temperatures and calmer winds will help firefighters get the upper hand on containing the blazes. over 5 million acres have burned and at least 35 people have been killlled by the fires fueleled y the climate crisis.

in immmmigration news, a cameroonian mothther who was sas she was invovoluntarily sterilid while heldld at the privately owned irwin county detenention center in georgia is scheduled -- might be deported today. pauline binam has lived in the united states since age two and has been detained at the immigration and customs enforcement prison for nearly three years. last fall, binam was reportedly subjected to invasive surgery on her reproductive organs, without her knowledge. binam's looming deportation comes as whistleblower dawn wooten, who was a nurse at irwin, has detailed how the jail performed hysterectomies on prisoners without their consent. human rights advocates have condemned the disturbing practices, saying forced sterilization amounts to genocide. in related news, a key witness in an ongoing investigation into sexual assault and harassment allegations at an el paso, texas, immigrant prison has been deported. the 35-year-old woman from mexico had recently told her lawyers several guards forcibly kissed her and at t least onone

touched d her intimate parar. she's one of at t least three people who have come forwaward about the systematicic sexual violence at the ice jail. the assaults would allegedly -- the department of homeland security's office of inspector general launched a probe into the accusations after propublica and the texas tribune first reported thehem last month. israel signed the u.s. brokered deal normalize relations with the ununited arab emirates and bahrain. president trump presided over the white house ceremony with the three countries on tuesday. he spoke before a crowd of several hundred people on the white house lawn, most of them sitting in close proximity without face masks, prompting concern from security for israeli prime minister benjaminn netanyahu, who joined trump forr the ceremony.. neitither netetanyahu nor trump mentioned the palestinians and it remarks. earlier in the day, palestinian activists protested the agreements. we will have more on the bahrain uae agreement with israel later in the broadcast with posting

american attttorney n noura era. presidident trump tuesday he wanted to assassinate bashar al-assad in 20 but did n not go 17 ahead due t to opposition frm then defense secretatary james mattis. trump made the admission on fox. pres. ump: i had a shot to take him out -- mattis was against most of that stuff. he would keep you in military, but he did not know how to win. amy: investigative journalist bob woodward first reported on the assassination plan in 2018 but trump claimed at the time the story was false. thisis comes a as fallout contis from the u.s. assassination of iranian general qassem soleimani earlier this year in iraq. unnamed u.s. officials recently totold politico that the iranian gogovernment is weighing an assassination attempt against the u.s. ambassador to south africa in retaliation. iran hasas denied the claim. on monday, trump warned iran that if it took such action,n, e u.u.s. response will be "100000

times greater in magnitude." nbc c news is reportining the pentagagon has b been unable to corroborate press reports that the russian government h had pad bounties to the taliban to kill u.s. soldiers in afghanistan. general frank mckenzie, the commander of the u.s. central command, said -- "it just has not been proved to a level of certainty that satisfies me." new details have emerged about how the rochesester police depapartment spentononths attetempting to cover up t the h of daniel prude, a black man who died from asphyxiation in march after police officers handcuffed him, put a hood over his head, and pushed his face into the freezing cold ground for two minutes while kneeling on his back. he was naked. newly released internal documents show the department spent months attempting to block the release of video of the incident. june -- email in

june, the department's deputy chief opposed releasing the video because it "could create animosity and potentially violent blow back in this community." the police chief responded saying, "i total agree." police also attempted to frame prude who had been suffering a mental health episode. in one police report, an officer wrote in red letters "make him a suspect." on monday, rochester mayor lovely warren fired the city's police chief saying there is a "pervasive problem" in the city's police department. on tuesday, the rorochester city council passed bills to authorize an independent investigation into prude's death, to transfer some money away from the police department, and to repeal a previous vote to fund a new pololice station. in lancaster, pennsylvania, at least seven people who were arrested monday during protests over the police shooting of 27-year-old ricardo munoz are being held on a $1 million bail. body camera footage shows a police officer shooting munoz,

who is holding a knife, after -- knife. munoz's family said he suffered from schizophrenia and paranoia. a hohouse committee has condnded boeing and the federal aviation administration for their roles in two fatal crashes in ethiopia and indonesia that killed all 346 people on board 737 max airplalanes. a report by the house transportation committee finds -- "the crashes were the horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by boeing's engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of boeing's management, and grossly insufficient oversight by the faa -- the pernicious result of regulatory capture on the part of the faa." ahead of the 737 max crashes, boeing's former ceo dennis muilenburg famously thanked president trump for allowing the -- giving airline companies more latitude to regulate themselves. for the first time in its 175-year history, , scientntific

american has endorsed a presididential candidate. in its new issues, the magazine's editors back joe biden for president, writing -- "the evidence and the science show that donald trump has badly damaged the u.s. and its people -- because he rejects evidence and science." and inin chicago, over 4800 hospital and university workers with the university of illinois hospital system are in the third day of a strike demanding safe staffing levels, better pay, and more personal protective equipment amid the pandemic. 4000 unionized workers have been without a contract for the past year. this is dian palmer, president of seiu local 73. >> we're going to keep fighting until we get everything that we deserve. they said it can't be done, but we are proving them wrong every day. better wages, better working coconditions, ppe for everyone.

amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i am amy goodman in new yorkrk, joined by my cohosost juanan gonzalez from his homeme in nenw jersey. juan: welcome to all of our lilisteners and viviewers from aroundnd the country andnd aroud the world. amy: we arare beginning today's report in louisville. more than six months afterr policece in louisville, kentuck, shot a and killed 26-year-old black emergency room technician breoa taylor in her own apartment, the city announced tuesday it will pay her family an historic 12 in dollar settlement and institute a slew of reforms to the police department responsible for her death. louisville mayor greg fischer announced the news at a press conferenence with breoeonna ta's family. >> thehe settlement includes a settlement of $12 million. amy: the mayor also named a dozen changes to pololicing g in louisville, including more

oversight from top commanders and an early warning system to identify police officers accused of brutality. the settlement is one of the largest amounts to ever be paid for a black woman killed by the police and comes after the summer uprising in defense of black lives matter. breonna taylor was made a household name throughout those protests. but the officers who entered her apartment with a no-knock warrant and killed her on march 13 still have not been criminally charged despite the demands of the family. this is breonna taylor's family attorney benjamin crump speaking during the joint news conference with the mayor of louisville. gettings been so long assure day were we could that breonna taylor's l life wod not be swept under the rug like so many other black women in

america who have been killed by police, marginalized. to the actionsl of the city of louisville today. and it is not just the historic $12 millionn settlement,t,hich come as s i understand it, i ise largest amount ever paid out for a black woman in a wronongful death killed by police in america. i believe it t may be the larget amount ever paid for a black shooting.a police we are stillll trying to verifyy that. and it is certainly, tamika mallory, one of the largest amamounts ever paid out for any person in the way of settlement in a police killingng in americ.

this is about setting a where my great co-counselels from kentuckcky, a baker and sam gillardrd, firstt talk to meme about this black woman who had been killed inin r own apartment by this no-knock warrant.t. concerned thaty nobody cared. nobody cared about this black woman. tamika'sred about baby. and that is when i started saying eveverybody i know toto that black women's lives matter, totoo. i was saying to anybody who would listen breonna taylor's

life matters. in some of -- senatoror kamala harris was the first national elected official to go on national telelevision and to say taylor., breonna with what has happened today, mayor fischer, not just t with e store goal amount, -- historical amount, but equally imporortant, the reform that they spoke of, it sets a precedent for other blackk women that their lives won't be marginalized, that they will be valulued. bland,like sandra pamela turner, lives lilike seveven-year-oldld i honest amyn detroit who also was killed as a result of a dangerous no-knock warrant. because we have to speak truth to power when we get an

opportunity. in these dangerous no-knock warranant's are disproportionaty executed against black people in america. that theery happy metro council also stood united passtamika palmer to breonna's law, to abolish these dangerous no-knock warrant's. because it was foreseeable who w witht put in d danger ththese no-knock warrant's. while mostst of amererica's dedg with the covid-19 pandemic, we in black a america are not only dealing with that pandemic, but we're also dealing with the 1619 pandemic, the pandemic that started over 400 years ago whehn the first enslslaved africananse to america.

and from that day to o this one, we have been dealing with systematatic racism m and oppren that have killed u us i inside d outside the e courtroom. we still are demanding that kentucky attorney general daniel cameron brining charges immemediely against the police officers that murdered breonna taylor. immediately. this week. justice delayed is justice denied. done ay leadership has significant step today, but now it is on daniel cameron and the attorney generalal of kentucky's office to bring charges -- and at the very minimum, second-degree

manslaughter charges. breonna taylor is a lightht to help heal what is happening in amererica. and fofor all of those young celebrities,see athletes, but mostst imporortany the people who are on the ground , the people who a are the acactivists and p protesterss sg enough is enough. we also need our legislative partners to help transform the prototests into popolicy. we need breonnnna's lawaw not jt in louisville, not just in the state of kentucky, but all throughout the united states of america because her life matters. amy: breonna taylor'r's family attorneyey benjamin crump. breonna's mother t tamika palmer also responded to thee

settlement. >> as significant as s today is, it linda begininning of f gettig full justice for breonna. we must t not lose focus o on wt .he real drive is and with that being said, it is time to move forward with the criminal charges b because she deserves that and much more. spirit analogy is working through all -- personality is working through all of us on the ground. please continue to say her name. breonna taylor. amy: joining breonna taylor's family, their lawyer and the mayor at tuesday's press conference was activist tamika mallory. >> a settlement is restitution but it is not arresting the cops. theant to say today at police officers responsible for killing breonna taylor must be arrested in order for the community to feel calm.

thenna taylor has shifted atmosphere. she shifted it not just here in kentucky, but across the country. the ban on no-knock warrant's is where we beginin in terms of grt reform. brereck hankinson, mattingngly,e, john and joshua james must be arrested. we cannot forget about joshua james. the man who lied on no-knock warrant application that sent police officers charging into andhome of breonna taylor kenny walker. we cannot forget about any of ththose officers. and if this police department is to do right by this community, if you know of other officers who were involved, they should be arrested and indicted immediately. amy: that was tamika mallory speaking at tuesday's news

conference for breonna taylor, whose family will receive $12 million in a settlement with the city of louisville. when we come back, we'll get response from journalist and smith andhal denzel also talk about the upcoming presidential election and his new book "stakes is high: life after the american dream." stay with h us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.orgrg, the quarante report. i'm amamy goodmanwith juan gogonzalez. we're joined by mychal denzel smith to discuss the historic settlement the city of louisville has just reached with breonna taylor's family. the upcoming presidential

election and far more. mychal denzel smith is a fellow at type media center, author of "invisible man, got the whole world watching: a young black man's education." his new book just released this week "stakes is high: life after , the american dream." one of its essays was adapted for any op-ed this week in the new york times headlined "a biden when will not cure my trump your depression." welcome back democracy now! it is great to have you with us. let's start with the breonna taylor settlement in louisville. we just heard benjamin crump as well as breonna's mother and tatamika mallory talkiking about this record $12 million andlement to the family policece reform in louisville -- of the police officers who noted breonna taylor have been arrested. yoyour response?

>> i hope the settlement brings breonna taylor's family some semblance of peace. i hope this helps in mitigating their pain in helping them heal together. but i think we have to dispense with the notion that there is justice for breonna taylor at this poioint. there is no justice in her loss of life. there is no justice in arresting and indictingg and cononvictinge officers who kililled her becaue what we're doing t then is s reg on a system that is built to ininscribe injustice in our society to deliverer justice. that the idea that prison would be a jusust result. no, what the system can do right noww is e enact a sense off reve by inflicting hararm on the offificers who killed breonna taylor. look, her family is well within their rights to want that right

now anand i will never question that. but what i can say or what i want the rest of us to think through is the idea that what the community needs in response to the killing of breonna taylor, what the nation needs in response to the killing of breonna tayloror, is the arrestf these individual officerers. the onlyly way to prevent anothr -- thee of the killing situatation that tooook breonna tataylor's life is to define and dismantle e police department across the wororld, abolishing police, abolishshing the very ia of policing, setting up a new organizing princnciple for our society that would require policing -- would not require polilicing inn the first place. what we'e're lookingng at, i me, ththe settlementnt is huge but e idea of public money subsidizing black death is nothing new. this is routine. they are willing to pay this amount of money in order to continue the system.

police are going to kill again over 1000 people every year. willing to pay 12 mean dollars for each of those if that means they can go about their business continuing to do that. when i think we have to understand is it is a structural problem. some of these reforms they have offered here in response -- i mean, it is great they are thinking in that way, in adaddition to the monetary settlement they are asking for things to change within the police department, but the things they have asked for, i mean, or the things that they have won in terms of police officers needing to be part of their community and lit in the communities they're policing, that just means police are going to kill their neighbors now. the idea that we need more ovoversight from higher-ups witn the police departments, what do we think is going to happen? do we think police chiefs have more compassion,n, that they h e

more wisdom to pass down for more ideas in eliminating violence from their communities? these are not things thatat are going to change the fundamental policing or illuminate the reason f for policing in the f t place. i think we have to underststand there is no justitice here. juststice needs to bee conceptualized as something that is more proactive, that is about providing peoplple the thiningsy needed for a sustainable life while e they are here. and we can't think that justice means monetary compensation for black deaths. ,uan: i want to ask you benjamin crump a at the press conference yesterday put a lot of strtress on this whole issuef reformrms, thehe so-called n nok warranants. these were products of the 1980's reagan war on drugs.

in the early 1980's, about 1500 no-knock warrants by law enforcement across the country. totoday, there a are 60,000 to 70,000 a year. do you think this will havave ay significant impact, this whole idea that there are no cotitution r rightforr people who are accused or suspected of any kind of illegal activitity that police can just break down their door? aboutbaldwin was writing it in the 1 1960's. these no-knock warrant's, the ability of police to simply go into anyny home that they please wiwithout cause, break down doos and arrest people, shoot people. i mean, but the idea that the warrant in and of itself being something that we requiuire in these instances points to the

fact that people have no rights to begin with. even if you require a warrant, police find ways around that or develop systems that then don't require them to have e warranann the first place. there was no warrant required for stop and frisk here in new york city, right? but we found justifications or the city found justifications for being able to implement that program. again, t there are specififics. there are ththe things that are clearly harmful and no-knockk warranants are something we absolutelyly have to address h , but that is part of a structutul problem in which what polilice e sent out to do in these instances is to enforce these laws that are meant t to subjuge segments of the population.

juan: in terms of the role thatt the protest movement across the country has had in the a activis in kentucky specififically -- we are increasisingly seeing police departments s in cities have to respond. the rochester situation with mayor firingng the police chief. what i is your assessmenent of e impact of the movement on trying to get some structural changes? >> there won't be any structural changes without movement. i think we havave to acknowledge that a huge reasonon why these changes are takingng place in te first place is it is not just that people are in the streets. it is not just people demanding these things. they have taken radical action. they have taken militant action. they have directly confronted the state power. if nothing happens, the protest movement doesn't go to the sisie ththat it did even the past sumr

for it weren't for the fact in the beginning of this, that police station was burned in minneapolis, right? police cars were set on fire in new york and atlanta and louisville. we have to understand the property destruction as a tactic was used and is set the nation on notice that something has to change now. hope, things that give me these things are possible. but what makes me -- what i have questions about, how much more that is going to be necessary if what we have won in the aftermath of such dramatic action is very milquetoast and in the middle-of-the-road reforms? amy: your op-ed piece in "the new york times goes what just appeared "abide when will not ,"re my trump era depression adapted from your new book. you begin by talking about the killing of your 12-year-old --

when you were 12 years old, the killing g of your cousin and the effectct it h has on the familyn the community. share that personal story with us and then take it bigger. >> the acknowledgment there was there is community violence that does impact us in a deeply emotional level. a 12-year-old losing a cousin nf mine who wasas 17 at the time hd any impact that i did not acknowledge at that time. but itit did set off a chain of events in which i experienced depression everyry year. i was diagnosed with this anxiety disorder later in my lilife. the pipieces about the ways in which the outside forceces contribute to that level of depression. it is s something i would not he even a someone who has lived with depression, would not have acknowledged as s depression

during the past four years of the trump era until very late in this time because i wasn't acacknowledging it h had any imt on me persrsonally. to inat i am planning that pieiece is many people are feeling g the anxiety of f this. i think we have to note a part of it is coming off of eight years of the first black presidency - -- for many, it w an erara in whichh peoplple thot there was someme kind of avenue toward progress. since the election of donald white retrenchment of the forces that are grinding peoplpe to an early death. during an era in which we havave very little time to face the climate apocalypse as we see the fires reaching out in california and the papacificc northwest and hurricanes gathered in the gulf coast during a global pandemic

ofofn airbornene illness. we just don't hahave very much time to address this post four years of the trump presidency has done only to accelerate the climate disaster here. idea weare facing is an are depressed and i am depressed because it seems so large, it seems too big to handle. in response from the democratic paparty, the party that is supposed to be in opposition to everything that is happening now, was to nominate for president joe biden who has a nearly 50 year history of public service in which we can acknknowledge or identify that e has mostly been a conservative ideologue. he has taken positions to the right of the republican party in many instances. that doesn't give me much room to feel like we are shifting in

any significant way to the transformative things that we need to address the large problems that we are facing, the existential crisis w we are facg globalally. to say, yes, donald trump must be ousted from office and that is whether or nonot he wins election or not, whether or not he cheats his way to o winning e election or wins legitimately or voted out of office -- in any of these instances, there are things that are going to have to be done that are bigger than donald trump, bigger than joe biden. there has to be collective movement toward facing the large-scale crises that we are up against nowow. sometething,to clear i knew e essay, you talk about what many psycholologists have said there is actually an increase in m mtal health

problems in the united states since e trump became presesiden. some name it, as yoyou say in hr articlcle, trump anxiety disiso. you're saying at the samame ti that you don't think there will be any substantial or measurable if bidene in terms of is successfuful in coming to office?? >> the problblem i is there cou- there will be some movement, of course. therere will be jubilation in certain segments of america if joe biden is elected p presiden, absolutely. but what i'm saying is after joe biden is elected president in that scenario, the problem is -- problems that we face are still going to be in front of us. what joe biden has offered so far is not a transformative agenda to face those issues.s. what i'm saying is, yeah,h, the trump part of that may be settled, but the rest t of it, e things that aree fundamemeal to

the nature of amererican empire, the things that are fundamental to the nature of american capitalism, white supremacy, all of those institutions, ststructural -- the ideology undergirding that that keeps oppression in placace, those ththings are still there and we have not elected a president thatat will be willing to confrt thosose things. so the depression part coululd ststill sink in because what w'e up against, what we're facing -- i mean, these fires are not going to stop. the things we're are up against are not going to just abate just becacause e e biden has s been elected d president. we have e to acknowledge that. yes, the trumpmp part could be settled by novevember, but the rest o of it could potentially cause another depression. amy: mychal denzel smith, thank you for being with us. we will do part two of our conversation after the show and post it online at democracynow.org.

mychal denzel smith is a fellow at type media center. author of "invisible man, got the whole world watching: a young black man's education." his new book just released, "stakes is high: life after the american dream." we will link to several of your essays. one in the atlantic and the other in "the new york times" headlined "a biden when will not cure my trump era depressssion." whwhen we come back, the u.s. brokered offering u uae israel deal that was signed at the white house yesterday. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democraracy now!, democracynow.org, , the quarante report. i'm amy goodmann with juan gonzalez. the first aired countries to normalize relations with israel

in over a quarter-century. president trump presided over the white house ceremony with the three countries on tuesday. pres. trump: this is peace in the middle east without blood all over the stand. i say it, right now it has been blood all over the sand for decades and decades and decades. that is all they do is fight and kill people and nobody gets anything. amy: after trump folk with reporters in the oval office, alongside netanyahu, he spoke to a crowd of several hundred people on the white house lawn, most of them sitting in close proximity without face masks, as is really prime minister benjamin netanyahu joint trump for the ceremony. pivot inay is a history. it heralds a new dawn of peace. for thousands of years, the jewish people have prayed for peace. for decades, the jewish state has prayed for peace. and this is why today we are

filled with such profound gratitude. amy: neither netanyahu nor trump mentioned the palestiniansns in their remarks. earlier inin the day, palestinin activiststs in the west bank and gaza protested the agreements. the foreign ministers of bahrain and the uae also spoke at the ceremony. the emirati foreign minister abdullah bin zayed al-nahyan also spoke. for more, we're joined by noura erakat, legal scholar, assistant professor at rutgers university, author of justice for some. her new piece for nbc news is headlined "trump 'peace' deals for israel, uae and bahrain are shams. they boost oppression, not amity." welcome back t to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. historic" the word " was repeated over and over again by the gulf state for ministers as well as trump and netanyahu. you have veryry different feelis

ababout this agreement. >> i do. ththk you for having me, a amy. i i think this is really i impot , a a reminder for us that palestine does n not exist in isolation but is s part of the middle east, part of an entire region. what we're seeing in these agreements is basicacally the u. entrenching its fear of influence within the middle east by aligning explicitly its relationship with israel, the united arab emirates, and bahrain. betweens been no war these coununtries, there were no hostilities. y -- it was to withhold a carrot that was otherwise incentivizing israel to make enduring concessions to thepalestinians or palestinian national rights, given that israel is the only nuclear power in the middle east as well as the 11th most

popowerful military in the world against the palestinian people without any army or an airport, these kinds of carrots and incentives are oththerwise necessary. the fact they have offered this carrot without any meaningful concession to the palestinians, even slightly using the blockade on gaza, shoululd indicate to us thatat this is not about advancg any kind of meaningful enduring peace but instead about entrenching a geopolitical alliance that would otherwise increase oppression for people of the middle east in bahrain, who are, and palestine struggling for freedom and democracy and are now facing off againstt powers who are backed y the ununited states militarily d also offered impunity within international -- like the security councilil juan: i a wonderiring, they're o

much a aention plalacedn t these agrereemen a and yet bototh the ememirates and bahrain to some extent, might be ruested's as to whethther the evenn represes- the e leaders represent theheirn populations. the uae, nine out of 10 people who liveve in the u uae are notn emirates. theirr largely south asians, pakikistanis, f filipinos whohoe been brought in as margaret workers and now our n nine tents of the population. likewise in bahrain, something like 40% or 45% o of the populalation is -- are not natis of the c country. countriese basically that did not even exist independently whehen israel occupied the west bank. they gained d their indepependee from england in 1971. so to what degree are the representative of the rest of the arab world? >> you are rightly highlighting

the lack of democratic representation and leadership. it is whwhy we have seen t the b street rise up and what is k knn as the ararab uprising across te arab world and we h he seen the counterrevololutionary trends against them backed by thehe united states. in response to thoseseike to tohology ice -- unable govern themselves, this helps reveal the truth, which is that democracy, people, people governing themselves suppressed outsideof outsize -- forces like u.s. who are more indebted to them and work accountable to those regimes who are providing it with aid or providing it w with some sort of military protection rather than accountability to their base. the fact that in bahrain, what we have seen in recent years and we saw any uprising in 2011 of

the population demanding an elected parliament, demanding a new constitution, and they were met with lethal force after which they began demanding the fall of the monarchy. it was saudi arabia and the uae that supported them in suppressing those demococracy protests. we are now seeing bahrain continuing to suppress the protest by having the support of the united states to protect them from any kind of international accountability. and on the ground, with brute military force. they have a lot in common with israel. and what this should reveal to us is not a peace but a deal that brings together these forces who are aligned in suppressing populations, suppressing movements for freedom and democracy, and should make more clear to us why palestinians and the rest of the arab world are sharing a similar fate. palestine does not exist in aa

vacuum. it is why palestinians have understood the road to jerusalem or the pathway to freedom flows through other arab capitals. that is as true today a as it hs been historicacally. amy: thihis ishe uae foreign minister. stand here today to extend a hanand of peace and receive a hand of these. are peaceoh, god, youou anand from you comes peace. an search foror peace is ininnate principiple yet princis are effectctively realizezed whn theyey are transformed into action. today, we are witnessing a change in the heart o of the middle east, a change that will sesend hope around the world. amy: the fororeign minister of e spspeaking in arabicc with englh trananslatioion over h. iran's foreignn minister abdullh bin zayed al-nahyan spoke in english. >> today's agreement is as important first step and it is now incumbent on us to work

urgently and actively to bring about the lasting peace and deserve are peoples stop a just, comprehensive, and enduring two state solution to the palestinian israeli conflict will be the foundation with such peace. amy: noura erakat, president trump says he thinks at least five other countries are going to sign on and there's a lot of speculation about what they will get. 'shrain being saudi arabia toe testing the waters. with the u.s. take sudan off the terror list in exchange for sudan signing on. morocco, some speculation that the u.s. would be the first in the woworld to recognize moroc's sovereignty over western sarah. of course, we know uae jared

kushner also admitting making a the37's,ive them u.s. weaponry, the jets. your thoughts? highlightingu're -- what is true, set of discussing this as a peace process, what is happening with these countries is there entering into agreements that are brokered by the global superpower in order to advance and achieve their own political interests, whether it be to normalize occupation in the western sahara, whether it be to normalize oppression over the population, their own population . what is clear is that none of it has to do with advancing peace. none of it has to do with palestinians. the reason that arab states have withheld normalization is in order to provide incentives to palestiniancognize rights. bahrn is now the force.

just before therapy to return normalize -- bahrain is now the fourth country to normalize wass that none ofof these agrgreemens haveve insured a single enduring concessision on behalf of palestinian nanational rigights. nothing easing of the blockade, not the end of the occupation, not even the lifting of the apartheid wall. there have been no concessions. so what is been dutifully and deliberately left off -- left out of the picture is the fact that the only piece that is nececessary is that between isil and thee palestinians who t they occupy, over whom they maintain an apartheid regime. there are no hostilitities with these other countries and yet that is being framed as peace for us to obscure the reality of state oppression and ongoingng violence. amy: i'm it f-35's that the uae are going to get. it is also the anniversary 1 193

of the oslo accords and d the signifificance of this, noura erakat? opportunityis is an to revisit that history. the 1993 declararation of rentable's never promised the palestinian state. there was no promise for a two state solution. since has been a state 1940 eight and recognized by palestinians as a state in 1988 and again in 1993. there's nothing in the declaration of principles that eveven promises the outcome of t will lead to an independent palestinian state and yet that is what has been sold to us. insteaead, this is an autononomy agreement for permanent derivative sovereignty whereby palestinians can live on a reservation with t the blessingf israel but n never as a people, never with national independence. the 1993 declaration of principles, in my eyes, has been dead since the presidential compounds in ramallah in 2001

and the death in 2002 and yet we continue on with the farce of the peace process now that it is 2020. and the responsibibility of that lies squarely on the palestinian leleadership. this is a moment of accountability. unless the palestinian leadership can look at this record an account for where they failed to take opportunities, what junctures they did not turn on, what moments they did not reassess this failed strategy, there is no moving forward with them in any kind of capacity as representative of the palestinian people. ifif nothing else, this is a moment of reckoning to understatand and to deliberate about a radical rethinking about the palestinian movement for freedom. and palestinians, the world over, have been doing netetworks they overcome and surmount diplomatic intransigence to advance the palestinian call for freedom like boycott,

divestment, sanctions, which has an effect kept the palestinian struggle alive, created new alliances across the globe, while we see solidarity protests in south africa, why we see now members of congress who are standing up to explain that this is not about democracy, peace, and freedom. that is precisely because there has been a shadow palestinian movement in place of the palestinian official leadership. hopepefully, we will see more of that as we move alolong where te base is mobilizing the top. juan: whatat about this claiaim of the united arab emirates that this deal was papart o of the agreement, w was part ofof an exchange for israel suspendingg plans to annex large swaths ofof the e occupied west bank? what is your r reaction to that claim? >> i think that is an absolute joke..

it is bebecause of the international reaction that they di not find it in their interest. we also saw tremendous amount of opposition from u.s. congress. for israel, this is more of the same because they already exercised the de facto annexation over those lands. what would havave advanced and changed for israelis is the fact that netanyahu would have been playing to his right wing base that he was able to secure annexation during his tenure. but the reality on the ground, it doesn't convert the takeover of those lands. if the uae actually want to makeke a meaningful concession r palestinians, it would havave bn withdrawal of the israeli troops from the jordan valley at the very least, which is laid 30% of ththe west bank, let a alone withdraw f from ththe enrere occupied tererritories. in fact, the right of return for palestinian refugees. this leaeaves so much. all of it is doublespeak and mirrors and shadows when they

say there any meaningful concessions. we will probably see israel advance their interest. for noura erakat, thank you being with us, palestinian human rights attorney and legal scholar. we will link to her peace "trump